


Memory

by Hermonthis



Category: Avatar: The Last Airbender
Genre: Fire Nation Royal Family, Freeform, Gen, Parent-Child Relationship, Poetry
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-04-13
Updated: 2015-04-13
Packaged: 2018-03-22 17:54:44
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 249
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3738094
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Hermonthis/pseuds/Hermonthis
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Inspired by poet Michael Ondaatje. A young princess Azula catches her seemingly perfect father in a vulnerable state. (Once I visited Daddy...)</p>
            </blockquote>





	Memory

**Author's Note:**

> Written March 20, 2007.

Once I visited Daddy in his study early in the morning  
He told me that I wasn't supposed to bother him.  
But I caught this pretty bird in Mommy's garden, caught it all by myself  
It had red and gold feathers on his head just like grandpa's crown.

_Knock, knock._

What is it princess?  
Daddy smiled when I showed him my friend  
Said he could keep him if he wanted to  
But Daddy shook his head, his hair swinging like a horse's tail  
He was mine to keep so I held him close in my warm palms  
And threw the bird out the window like flower petals.  
Just like Mommy used to

I climbed onto his knee and stared at the shining wet ink  
Letters spoke out to me the names of my ancestors  
And I recognized grandmother's name among them

Daddy touched the top of my head and said,  
Your name will go here, as if he knew a little secret  
And I giggled although I didn't really know why  
It was our little secret, just between him and me.  
When daddy passed me the calligraphy pen  
And I wrote my name on that paper  
\- I knew right then

That the world belonged to _me_  
And my name would be written down in these books just like mother's.  
I grinned at Daddy, showing him all my perfect teeth  
And he said with a smile that I couldn't understand then  
Will they remember me, Azula? Will they remember me?


End file.
